Trailblazing Jewish Democrat #13: Dan Glickman

Jason Attermann — May 18, 2011 – 2:31 pm | Jewish American Heritage Month 2011 Comments (0) Add a comment

Dan Glickman served as a U.S. Representative for Kansas and Secretary of Agriculture for President Bill Clinton.

Dan Glickman was born on November 24, 1944 in Wichita, KS. He received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan in 1966 and his law degree from The George Washington University in 1969. After graduation, Glickman worked for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a trial lawyer. In 1971, he joined the firm Sargent, Klenda and Glickman as a partner.

Beginning his civic career in 1973, Glickman served as President of the Wichita School Board until 1976. That year, Glickman challenged the Republican incumbent Representative Garner Shriver in Kansas’s 4^th Congressional district. He defeated Shriver and represented the district for the next 18 years.

During his time in Congress, Glickman sat on the House Agriculture Committee and the House Judiciary Committee. He chaired the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. In this role, he oversaw an investigation into the Aldrich Ames espionage case. While in office, he was known as a top congressional expert on general aviation policy.

In 1994, he lost in his re-election campaign to Republican Todd Tiahrt. In the following year, President Clinton appointed Glickman to serve as Secretary of Agriculture. He improved the nation’s nutrition, updated food safety standards, and improved the Department’s policies to be more fair and equal in civil rights. He held this cabinet post until 2001.

At the end of Clinton’s term, Glickman served as the Director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He was also a partner in the firm Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld. From 2004 until 2010, he joined the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) as their Chairman and CEO. In this capacity, he represented the U.S. entertainment industry to governments around the world.

Glickman is currently a Senior Fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), a think tank established to develop bipartisan solutions to policy issues.

The National Jewish Democratic Council honored Glickman with the Hubert H. Humphrey Humanitarian Award on October 1, 2009. The award is given to individuals for their extraordinary leadership on issues important to our community and society. Past honorees include former-Senator Hillary Clinton (2004), President Bill Clinton (2002), and Vice President Al Gore (2000).

Glickman married Rhoda Yura in 1966. The couple has two children.

More about Glickman can be read in the book Jews in American Politics, which was edited by L. Sandy Maisel and Ira N. Forman.

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